Moistening device



April 18, 1950 F. J. WILLIAMS MOISTENING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledNOV. 29, 1946 IN VEN TOR.

LIAME FURRES'T WZ'L AT THE Patented Apr. 18, 1950 MOISTENING DEVICEForrest Williams, San Francisco, Calif., as-

signor of sixty per cent to Edna Hein, San

Francisco, Calif.

Application November 29, 1946, Serial No. 712,792

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to an improved moistening device and hasparticular reference to a specially constructed device for use inmoistening envelope flaps, stamps and other articles coated withadhesive, whereby the adhesive is softened and becomes sticky forsealing the material to the surface intended.

An object of the present invention is to provide a suitable opencontainer forming a reservoir for retaining the desired amount of liquidtherein and to provide an enlarged lower roller and a smaller upperroller and to operatively arrange the said rollers in such relation toeach other as will cause the peripheries thereof to be in rollingcontact, the periphery of the lower roller dipping into the well,whereby a thin film of fluid is carried upward to and in between theperipheries of the rollers for moistening the adhesive on such articlesas envelope flaps for sealing the same.

Another object of the present invention is to revolvably support thelower roller in the top surface of the container and to provide aremovable clamp on the said container forming a standard that extendsupwardly to and around the upper roller for revolvably supporting thesaid upper roller and retaining the same in the proper operativeposition relative to the lower roller.

A further object of the present invention is to form oppositely opposedvertical slots in the upper projecting members of the standard forreceiving and supporting the shaft of the upper roller, whereby thesaidroller is free to rise and move vertically for accommodatingdifferent thicknesses of adhesive coated materials to be moistened.

A still further object of the present invention is to knurl or otherwiseroughen the outer periphery of the upper roller to facilitate themovement of the adhesive coated materials projected between the rollers.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a suitablebrush or the like directly above the upper roller and secure the same tothe standard to function as an auxiliary spreader and to remove surplusfluid from the materials when necessary.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide amoistening device of the character described that is durable, simple inconstruction, economical to manufacture, positive in operation andhighly efiicient and. serviceable in use.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of thefollowing description. 7 In the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthe specification, wherein for the purpose'of illustration like numeralsdesignate like parts throughout the same,

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the improved moistening device,

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through line 2-2 of Fig. 1looking in direction of the arrows A, and

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken through line 3-3 of Fig. 1looking in direction of the arrows B. 1

Referring in detail to the drawing and to the numerals thereof thenumeral 5 designates as a Whole a container, preferably rectangular-inshape with vertical walls 6, 1, 8 and 9 and a horizontal bottom l0forming a suitable reservoir I l as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The topsurface of the walls 8 and 9 of the container are formed with oppositelyopposed grooves 12 for receiving and supporting a suitable shaft l3,which shaft horizontally extends through an enlarged roller [4 as shownin Fig. 3. The said shaft is preferably fixed to the said roller l4 andthe said roller preferably extends in the reservoir In of the containeras shown in Fig. 2.

A standard designated as a whole by the numeral i5 is formed with abottom 16, oppositely opposed vertical end walls I! and I8, which endwalls extend inwardly and over the top surface of the container walls 8and 9 as at I9 and 20. The said standard is preferably formed of asuitable spring metal or plastic and is tightly clamped to the saidcontainer and is further provided with upper vertical walls 2! and 22and a horizontal top wall 23 and a downwardly extending wall 24 as shownto advantage in Fig. 3. The said walls 2| and 24 terminate a shortdistance from each other at the top of the roller [4, whereby a space 24is formed for enabling the adhesively coated material to be insertedbetween the peripheries of the rollers. A roller 25 of smaller diameterthan the roller I4 is positioned on the upper peripherial extremity ofthe said roller [4 and is provided with a fixed shaft 26, which shaft isrevolubly supported in oppositely opposed slots 21 and 28 provided inthe upper walls 22 and 24. The peripherial surface of the smaller roller25 is knurled or roughened as at 29 to facilitate the movement of thematerials projected between the rollers. The numeral 30 shown in dot anddash lines designates a piece of material such as an envelope flapcoated with an adhesive substance on the other side, when the materialis positioned between the rollers and is pulled past the same, theweight of the top roller 25 resting on the said material 30 and lowerroller M will 5 cause revolvable movement to be imparted to the rollerswhereby fluid fromwithin the reservoir II will be "fcarried on the lowrrdller hi to moisten"'the"adhesive coating "on" the "said "ma terial. Asthe smaller upper roller 25 is posi 10 tioned in the oppositely opposedslots 21 and 28 and rides on the periphery of the lower roner I4 it willbe obvious that the said smaller roller will raise when the materi"o"be""moiste'ried"'is inserted between the rollers,'wiireb different? 5"thicknesses of materials are accommodated.

A brush 3| having a back 32" is fix ed tci the top face of the crossmember 23 of the standard and is provided as an auxiliary spreader to'be ass merely rubbed overthe brush to accGin'pIiSh the piii' po'seiri'te'iidedi The container Band therollers i4' aridz5f-re' used inconjunction with the rollers when it is 20 A device 01' the characterdescribed for use in V moistening the adhesive coated substance forenvelope flaps and the like, comprising a container forming a fluidreservoir with an open top, a lower roller revolvably supported on theupper portion of the container and extending in the said reservoir, anupper roller resting on the periphery of "th'e lower frollr' andpdsitioned in parallelism therewith, tif said ripper roller being ot asmaller diameter than the lower roller, a slfaft horizontally fixed tothe upper roller, and

-a"-standard in the form of a sprin clamp rour ding said container and.said rollers, and a "pposed vertical guide slots in capable of receivingand slidthe said shaft, said standard embodyinin-its construction a baseportion positioned beneath said container, upwardly extendmesiae arms,and a top portion integrally formed 'th sai Y adhesive coatedenvele' ena'fnove e "s's new there:

journaled in the vef'ti -"ai'ins bf the aid blli fr sepperting standard;H I

REFERENCES- 011mm ritereiit viiig*rdefncts fare of 't-eeerii in me"rarisentarshartwere

